OVERLAND PARK, Kan. -- Cornell defenseman
Keir Ross and Brown forward Jack
Maclellan were selected as two of the ten NCAA®
men’s ice hockey finalists for the 2012 Lowe’s Senior
CLASS Award, given to student-athletes who excel both on and off
the ice.

The finalists were chosen by a media committee from the list of
20 candidates announced in October. To be eligible for the award, a
student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and
have notable achievements in four areas of excellence –
community, classroom, character and competition.

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying
in School®, the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award focuses on the
total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform
in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their
communities.

Nationwide fan voting begins immediately to determine the winner
and fans can vote on either the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award website or the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award
Facebook fan page through March 18. Fan votes will be
combined with media and Division I men’s ice hockey head
coaches’ votes to determine the winner. The winner will be
announced during the 2012 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four®, which
will be held April 5 and 7 in Tampa.

Ross has been a key contributor for a Big Red team that has
competed in the NCAA tournament in two of his first three years on
campus, including an ECAC Hockey championship in 2010. He is one of
the top defensive presences on the team, particularly as a key cog
on a penalty-killing unit that has ranked in the top 10 nationally
over the past two seasons. His plus-12 rating ranked second on the
team in 2010-11, and he was penalized the least of any defenseman
despite frequently being matched up against some of the
opposition's best forward combinations.

Outside of the rink, Ross is a two-time selection to the ECAC
Hockey Academic All-League team and was the Big Red's Hockey
Scholar Athlete last season. He was also named to the College of
Human Ecology Dean's List in 2010, carrying a 3.57 grade point
average in Human Biology, Health and Society. Ross is an assistant
researcher for the Cornell Veterinary College and is writing a
paper on his study of assessing the utility of a laser scanning
imaging technique called multiphoton microscopy. He has been
working on a study for more than one year on cartilage image
techniques. The project will also be the platform for Ross' senior
thesis for Cornell's Nutrition department. He intends on applying
for medical school following his graduation.

A nominee for the 2012 Hobey Baker Award, Maclellan leads the
Bears this year with 20 points (10g, 10a) through 21 games, and
recently earned the 50th assist of his career, becoming the first
Brown player since 2008 to post 50 career assists. He also leads
the Bears with four game-winning goals and four power play goals to
go along with one short-handed goal.

An Economics concentrator with a 3.50 GPA, Maclellan has been
selected to the ECAC Hockey All-Academic Team three straight years,
earning Academic All-Ivy honors in 2011. Despite a hockey
acumen that has drawn the attention of professional scouts,
Maclellan chose to remain at Brown for his senior season.
Luiz Valente, the faculty advisor for the men's
hockey team, said, "Jack Maclellan is a true embodiment of the
ideal of the well rounded student-athlete. This bright and
articulate young man has approached his schoolwork with the same
dedication that is evident in his performance as a world-class
athlete as well as in his solid commitment to the values of our
campus wide community. As such, he is destined to succeed in any
career he chooses to pursue, whether inside or outside the realm of
athletics."